It sure looks like Sen. John McCain has a lock on the Republican nomination. But he's not forgetting there's a primary coming up in Texas next Tuesday, March 4th.
McCain will be in San Antonio this Wednesday, February 27th for a Town Hall meeting at USAA. News 4's Randy Beamer talked with him briefly via satellite as McCain campaigned in Cleveland on Monday.
Here's what he touched on in that interview:
ON THE SURGE:
McCain said the surge in Iraq -- which he supported from the beginning -- is working, and the key to knowing when to pull out the troops is American casualties "...so that we don't have more people over at Brooke Army Hospital where those brave, young Americans are being treated with such magnificent care and love and affection of the people of San Antonio."
"But the key to it is American casualties and they continue to come down more and more because the Iraqis are continuing to take on more of the military responsibilities..."
"The surge is succeeding and the key to it is not American presence, it's American casualties and by any measure, we are succeeding and the political process is succeeding."
ON THE BORDER FENCE AND IMMIGRATION:
"The border fence is not going to go away. It's going to have to be built. And in parts of our border... it's more effective to use vehicle barriers, sensors, cameras... but the fact is the border walls have to be built in urban areas because that's the only way you're going to stop illegal immigration."
ON AFGHANISTAN:
"We need more NATO help, we need more help from our allies. We need to work more on eradication of the poppy crop. It's a very difficult situation in Afghanistan."
ON IMPROVING HEALTH CARE FOR VETERANS:
"First of all, I would expand our capabilities -- such as at Brooke [Army Medical Center] to treat the unique wounds and injuries associated with this conflict, wuch as PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], burns... IED [Improvised Explosive Device] injuries, etc.,..."
"And also then I would develop a system where - for routine health care - our veterans would be able to have a plastic card and go to the health care provider of their choice immediately instead of having to wait in line to wait in line to get an appointment to get an appointment..."
